Lenovo took the top spot during a quarter in which PC shipments dropped due to a weak economy and pressure from mobile devices.

Of the top four PC vendors, only Lenovo was able to grow its shipments. Its PC sales increased by almost 10 percent to 13.77 million units, giving it 15.7 percent of the market, Gartner said.

HP's shipments dropped 16.4 percent to 13.55 million, putting it in second place with 15.5 percent of the market. Dell was in third place after its shipments declined 13.7 percent, giving it 10.5 percent of the market.

A similar study released Wednesday by IDC had HP clinging to its top spot, with 13.95 million PCs sold compared to 13.82 million for Lenovo.

HP responded by saying IDC takes a more complete view of the market.